1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to wear plates for railroad car couplers, and more particularly concerns a non-metallic wear plate made of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene for railroad car couplers and used in place of the steel wear plates of the prior art.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Presently, sliding a railroad car coupler over a typical steel wear plate requires such a large human effort that it has been found to be a safety problem. The large effort results sometimes in strained backs, and other injuries. For proper coupling, a man has to shove the coupler into alignment from the side, and can require approximately 121 lbs. of effort to move the coupler into alignment with another coupler extending from the railroad car to which coupling is to be made.
If the coupler misses the other coupler, bypass occurs and causes damage to the railroad cars. In some cases, the coupling procedure includes a humping operation off a hill in a railroad yard. In other cases, a switching engine pushes the railroad car to accomplish the coupling.
Low friction between the coupler and the wear plate of the car to be coupled eases the force required to make the coupling.
With steel wear plates, it is conventional to put lubricants on the steel plates to lessen the force required to center the coupler. Typically the lubricant lessens the force required from 121 lbs. of force before lubrication to less than 84 lbs. of force after lubrication. But the lubricant wears out quickly and does not solve the problem. Sometimes the conventional wear plates are over lubricated and the coupler may slide out of position because the coating of the wear plate is too slippery.